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According to the study, millions of families in the United States are separated by deportation. Over the past five years, more than 2 million people of Mexican origin were deported.

Lopez, now an assistant professor at New Mexico State University, interviewed professionals working with immigrants, along with deported spouses and those they left behind, the latter becoming her focus. Half of her subjects were women legally in the country; the other half weren't.

They were from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Mississippi and ranged in age from 20 to 45. All had children, most U.S.-born, except one who was pregnant with her first child.

Some of the legal residents moved to Mexico in the wake of a spouse's deportation, their children in tow, but all came back because of the violence there, Lopez said.

The undocumented had fewer choices: For them, “moving to Mexico is a permanent thing,” she said. Such families considered another option to remain a family — the risk of another illegal border crossing by the husband.

In part, Lopez conducted the study to assist the counseling profession to better provide services to immigrant families. Her doctorate is in counselor education and supervision.

“You can't fathom what it must feel like to take your loved one away,” she said. “Nobody is paying attention to what's happening to those left behind.”

Lopez knows some will wonder why they should care about such families.

“As much as we try to convince ourselves that these people need to be deported, you also have to think of the consequences,” she said. Among those who remain, their homes broken, are U.S. citizens, “and they have rights. They're going to contribute to society if we like it or not.”